Eden's Playground: Graystone Academy Book One, BE Kelly [good short books .TXT] 📗

she said. “As long as it doesn’t screw up your plans for tomorrow.” Classes didn’t start for underclass witches for a few more days. She was hoping to get her stuff from her mother before they began.

“I’m free in the morning,” Duff offered. “How about I come by your building at eight and we can grab some breakfast before we head to the library?” She didn’t want to tell him that she was an early riser and that eight in the morning was mid-day for her. It’s one of the reasons why not having a roommate worked for her. Well, that and her general dislike of people. But Duff was offering to help her out and honestly, walking around campus by herself did creep her out.

“That sounds great,” she said. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” Duff said. Anson sat back and crossed his arms over his massive chest, a scowl on his handsome face.

“What?” she questioned.

“Nothing,” he said. “I just think that you might be digging into something that should be left alone. Maybe your parents never really told you about your aunt’s death because it wasn’t something you needed to know.”

“Probably so,” she agreed. “I’m just wondering why the academy never did more to find out who murdered my aunt. I mean, shouldn’t someone be brought to justice for her death?”

“What happens if the rumors are true and we find out that your father was involved?” Duff asked.

“There are rumors about my aunt’s death involving my father?” she asked.

“Shit,” Anson breathed. “You couldn’t just leave it alone, could you Duff?” he grumbled.

“She has a right to know,” Duff defended. “Bianca was her aunt.”

“Fine,” Anson growled. “Our father told us that there are some shifters who believe that your father killed your aunt for disobeying his order not to date a shifter. They think that he murdered Bianca himself, dumped her body in the woods, and made it look like a shifter was at fault.”

“Just because some people believed that, doesn’t make it true,” Eden defended. “I mean, what happens if we find out that your father was involved?” Eden countered. “You’re right, we might be digging up the past but that’s the only way to get answers that we both need to find. Who knows—maybe it will give us some clues into your friend’s death,” she said to Anson.

“If the local authorities and the academy can’t find the answers behind Gen’s death, I’m pretty sure that you and my brother won’t be able to come up with anything new. Her case is considered a cold case by the police and the academy is willing to let it go because they don’t want any more publicity from it. New student admissions were down by thirty-eight percent this semester. I’m betting that the academy wants to forget all about Gen’s murder. Hell, they probably are hoping that everyone forgets about her death so that they can get back to normal. As if that’s possible,” Anson whispered.

“It can’t hurt anyone to help Eden research her aunt Briana’s death. It happened so long ago and it might give her family some closure,” Duff said.

“I’m sure it will,” Anson agreed. “And aren’t you nice for offering to help her out?” he sneered at his brother. Eden took that as her cue to clean up her dinner tray.

“I still have a lot to do around my dorm room,” she lied. “Thanks for eating dinner with me guys. I appreciated the company. See you in the morning, Duff.” She turned to leave and Anson shouted her name. Eden turned to find them both hot on her heels.

“You can’t walk back to your dorm by yourself. We just went over all of this—it’s not safe. Let us walk you back to your room,” Anson insisted. She didn’t hesitate to take them up on their offer. It was probably dark now and walking half a mile across campus wasn’t something she was looking forward to.

“Thanks,” she breathed. “I’d like that, Anson.”

Eden found it hard to sleep, tossing and turning most of the night. She had gotten back to her dorm room and taken a hot shower. She had to admit, having her father’s old room wasn’t a hardship, especially since it came with a private bathroom. Most of the other first-year witches not only had to share a room but they had to use a community bathroom. It was nice to have her own shower and space. Being a legacy had its perks but she still hated that everyone seemed to think they knew who she was just because she was Theo Graystone’s daughter.

She woke before the sun and dressed in one of the only clean outfits she still had. Eden made a mental note to do some laundry today and possibly go into town to do some shopping. Betting on her mother usually ended with her being disappointed in her mom. Eden knew that her mom would show up with her stuff, sooner or later, but she didn’t want to start classes without everything that she needed. Her father had sent her more money than she’d need for the entire year. Treating herself to a few new outfits might be a nice way to begin her time at the academy.

She pulled out her laptop, wanting to get a head start on her research when her screen pinged with a message. She had joined the social media site for the academy. It was like Facebook but for students and professors of the academy. She opened up the site to find that she had two new friend requests—Anson and Duff. They were her only friend requests and she wondered if that was how her time at Graystone was going to play out. She was always a loner but since agreeing to go to the academy, she became even more of an introvert.

Her mother tried coaxing her out of her shell, telling her that making friends would only help pass her time at Graystone and make it more pleasant. She